body piercing

Body piercing is the practice of poking a hole in one's body to facilitate the wearing of jewelry. It has been performed, in one way or another, for thousands of years  a 5,000 year old body frozen in a glacier in Austria had a pierced ear; ancient Egyptian pharaohs had their ears pierced as a sign of royalty; male genital piercing is mentioned in the Kama Sutra. Body piercing has been done throughout the ages for mostly aesthetic and sexual reasons, though the multiply pierced will agree that it can become a habit and one may develop emotional ties to one's piercings, and in some cultures piercing (and related practices like Oh-Kee-Pah) can take on a cultural/religious significance. When the body is pierced, a rush of endorphin is common, relieving the piercee of most pain and inducing a pleasant feeling.

Though piercing has been around for so long, the origins of each piercing are not agreed upon. The histories of a few genital piercings are indeed true and documented, but the stories behind many piercings (such as nipple or navel rings) were invented by a British "scholar" trying to publish a book on the upsurge in body piercing. This is not widely documented, and many people are torn on the issue.

By far, the part of the body most commonly pierced is the ear lobe. These days, upper ear cartilage, nostril and eyebrow follow, with tongue coming close. History shows that the septum was a popular piercing among aboriginal tribes, as it gives the face a fierce look. The lower lip is slowly growing in popularity (and has its historical place among tribes of Upper/Lower Africa and Central/South America), along with select genital piercings. More extreme forms of piercing are emerging as well, like surface and brace piercing, bridge piercing and mandible piercing. Other piercing-related practices have also seen a slight rise in popularity, such as deep chest piercing and flesh hook suspension.